North Pole needs $3.5 million to move its sewage outfall before daily state fines start

North Pole needs $3.5 million to move its sewage outfall on the Tanana River, Utility Supervisor Paul Trissel told the City Council at a budget workshop Thursday.

The city's treated wastewater empties into a braid, or side channel, of the Tanana that no longer gets reliable flow from the main river because the river is moving south, Trissel said. The city has a state notice of violation over the outfall. It argued that its effluent still reaches the main river even when the braid runs dry, but the state rejected that argument.

"They gave us 5 years to fix it, or this notice of violation is not just a notice of violation that's on a piece of paper, that goes into the fine stage, and that's daily," Trissel said.

He said the state set that deadline in 2025, leaving the city about three and a half years. Trissel said he and a former city services director met with the state Department of Environmental Conservation to look for an extension, and none was available.

The engineering firm RESPEC found a new outfall site just south of Petro Star. Trissel said DEC appears to favor the site because there is enough flow for a proper mixing zone, the area where effluent dilutes in the river.

The only alternative, a new treatment plant that meets water quality standards at the end of the pipe, would cost about $40 million.

Construction should take one summer, Trissel said. City officials said a pending grant, if awarded, could cover $1.5 million, and the city could take a low-interest state loan.